The present invention relates, in general, to a side panel for a motor vehicle, and to a method of making such a side panel.
A prior art side panel of a door frame of a motor vehicle is shown by a side view in FIG. 1 and generally designated by reference numeral 1. The side panel 1 has an A pillar 2, a B pillar 3, and a sill member 4 which is connected, e.g. welded, in the foot area with the A and B pillars. Reference characters F1 and F2 designate joints between the sill member 4 and the A and B pillars 2, 3. A further joint F3 is provided in an area of the roof panel 5 between the B pillar 3 and the A pillar 2. The individual components of the side panel 1 are typically made by a hot-forming process, whereby the joints F1, F2, F3 are provided by spot welding or gluing. A problem encountered with this type of prior art side panel 1 is the presence of tension peaks in the area of the joints F1, F2, F3. In addition, welding requires material overlap which has an adverse effect on the overall vehicle weight.
Although individual components of a side panel for a motor vehicle are subject to widely different loads and strains, the provision of a continuous transition between different material strengths could not be realized heretofore.
In tipstrends.online@3sat.de of Jun. 9, 2000, URL: http://www.3sat.de/Tipps/aktuell/7566 and 3sat program “Tips & Trends mobil2000” of Jun. 10, 2002, the Audi A2 production is described, using single-piece side panels of aluminum. In the magazine “Wirtschaftswoche” [Weekly Economy], April 2001, URL: http://www.berlinews.de/archiv/1629.shtml “Innovationspreis” [Innovation Prize], it is noted that the single-piece side panel construction result in a reduced fuel consumption by the Audi A2. The reduction in weight through use of aluminum is however offset by the significantly added costs for aluminum compared with traditional constructional steel.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved side panel for a motor vehicle to obviate prior art shortcomings and to allow simple manufacture with continuous transition between different material strengths while using inexpensive materials and still reliably coping with situations in which the side panel is subject to loads and strain.